Painting the Picture of Love
by Windrises
Summary: Kagome is working on a piece of art and Inuyasha is playing a silly game. Although things get chaotic, the two of them bond with each other.


Note: Inuyasha is an anime that was done by the studio Sunrise and is based on a manga by Rumiko Takahashi.

Kagome Higurashi was on a hilltop. In recent weeks she had taken up a new hobby, which was being a painter. She thought that painting was great way to express her emotions and passion, through the beautiful colors and subtle charms of art. During that time, she had painted quite a few paintings. She was currently working on her seventh painting. She was trying to paint a picture of a lovely and relaxing atmosphere, so she tried to paint happy things, including sunshine, smiling people, and adorable rabbits.

While Kagome, was working on her artwork, Sango walked up to her. Kagome turned around and saw her. She presented her latest art piece and asked, "How does it look?"

Sango took a good look at it and answered, "It doesn't look like total crap."

Kagome assumed that Sango was trying to make a compliment. However, she didn't word herself in a very eloquent way. Kagome tried to defend herself, by saying, "For the record, I haven't finished this piece of art. After it's done, it's going to look pretty decent."

Sango gave Kagome a pat on the back and asked, "Are you okay, Kagome? You sound a little defensive and paranoid."

Kagome replied, "No offense, but you didn't give my work the most charming of compliments."

Sango shrugged her shoulders and responded, "I talked about how nice it is, so I don't see what the problem is."

Kagome replied, "You just said it doesn't look like crap."

Sango responded, "That's a pretty flattering term, especially when it comes from me."

Kagome looked weirded out, while saying, "If you say so." She continued working on her piece of art, while asking, "Where are Inuyasha and Miroku?"

Sango had an amused look on her face, while replying, "Those guys are so silly. They're probably getting in trouble or doing something absurd."

Kagome lightly smiled, while responding, "Come on, Sango. Don't you have any confidence in our fellow team members?"

Sango put her hand on her chin and thought about it. She had nostalgic flashbacks of Inuyasha' and Miroku's previous pranks, so she said, "Those guys are out of control."

Kagome was getting closer to finishing her piece of art, while replying, "If you say so. However, I think those two have more going for them than just goofing around, especially Inuyasha."

Meanwhile, Inuyasha and Miroku were playing hide and seek, a few hundred feet away from Kagome. Miroku was the first to hide. He hid under a couple of rocks, which led to him getting hurt by rocks. Inuyasha had found him, so he said, "Ah ha, it appears that I'm going to be the winner of this game."

Miroku was desperate to seem superior and he wasn't fond of Inuyasha's boastful confidence, so he folded his arms, and said, "Yeah right."

Inuyasha had a mildly offended and confused look on his face, while asking, "Why do you think you'll win? I have all of the points and you have nothing."

Miroku had a smug smile on his face, while saying, "That's true. However, that was only the first part of the game. It's your turn to hide and considering how predictable you've become, I already have guesses about where you'll hide."

Inuyasha paused and realized that Miroku was right. He liked having a routine and repeating similar activities. Because of that, he often hid in the same places, during hide and seek. Having a clear schedule and following a pattern ate usually good things. However, hiding in the same places, during hide and seek, hardly counts as a good idea. He often hid behind the snack machine and the soda machine. Miroku was starting to pick up on his pattern, so Inuyasha figured he should find a new hiding spot.

Inuyasha had a confident smile on his face, while saying, "You're not going to find me and I'm going to win this game."

Miroku smirked and replied, "Don't count your hiding spots, until you've hidden in them."

Inuyasha started running around, while looking for a new hiding spot. He tried to find a unique and well-hidden spot, but he was struggling to find anything useful. After a few minutes of trying to find a hiding spot, he figured that Miroku had probably stopped counting and was looking for him. Inuyasha whispered to himself, "I need to stop goofing around and find a real hiding spots." He heard footsteps and assumed that Miroku was coming after him. He whispered, "I'll have to move fast." He looked around and saw Kagome's latest piece of art. He smiled and said, "I'll hide behind that thing."

Kagome looked around and was surprised to see Inuyasha hiding behind her artwork. She asked, "What are you doing?"

Inuyasha whispered, "Stop talking."

Kagome had an offended look on her face, while asking, "You're telling me to shut up?"

Inuyasha shook his head and said, "No, I just need to stay hidden. Miroku and I are playing hide and seek." Kagome could hardly believe that her friends were playing that. She considered teasing Inuyasha about it, but she was too sweet to say anything.

Miroku came by. He walked up to Kagome and said, "I'm looking for Inuyasha." Inuyasha tripped and he and the painting fell off the hill. Miroku had a confused look on his face, while asking, "What happened?"

Kagome had a terrified look on her face, while saying, "Inuyasha and my new artwork fell off the hill."

Miroku replied, "Oh no." He paused and said, "I hope Inuyasha doesn't bleed on your artwork."

Kagome angrily nudged him and said, "My artwork isn't the primary thing of concern. I love being an artist, but the value of people comes first."

Miroku jokingly replied, "I would usually agree with you, but Inuyasha might be a good exception. After all, he doesn't do anything that helpful."

Kagome asked, "What's wrong with you? Don't you care about your friend?"

Miroku shook his hands around and said, "Calm down, Kagome. I was just kidding around."

Kagome asked, "Do you think your friend's safety is something to joke about?"

Miroku explained, "Inuyasha and I often exchange dark humor. It's a fun hobby."

Kagome grabbed Miroku by the arm and said, "If you're such a caring friend, you're going to follow me and check up on him."

Miroku sighed and replied, "Fine."

Meanwhile, Sango was practicing her fight moves, while on the ground. She looked up and saw Inuyasha following to the ground. Inuyasha landed in some garden bushes. He didn't get badly hurt. Sango got him out of the garden bushes and asked, "Are you okay?"

Inuyasha said, "I might be. I'm not sure if I won the hide and seek game."

Sango asked, "You were playing hide and seek?"

Inuyasha explained, "It's an adventurous hobby." Sango rolled her eyes.

Kagome and Miroku walked up to Inuyasha and Sango. Kagome had a concerned look, while asking, "Are you okay, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha said, "I think so."

Kagome gave him a big hug and replied, "I was really worried about you."

Inuyasha felt touched to hear that. He responded, "That's sweet of you."

Kagome asked, "Did you see my latest piece of art?"

Inuyasha handed the artwork to her. It was broken in half. Kagome had spent hours on it, so she wasn't thrilled about it being broken. Inuyasha said, "I'm really sorry about accidentally breaking it. If you're ticked off at me, I understand."

Kagome sighed and said, "Don't worry about it."

Miroku nudged Inuyasha and said, "Let's get back to our hide and seek game."

Inuyasha looked at Kagome and saw how disappointed she was. He looked back at Miroku and said, "I have something more important to do."

Miroku sighed and replied, "Okay, you quitter."

Sango pulled Miroku away and said, "Come on. Instead of playing silly games, you're going to practice your fight moves. It's more important than playing around."

Miroku asked, "Why is everybody focusing on what's important?"

Inuyasha walked closer to Kagome and asked, "Are you okay?"

Kagome said, "Yeah, it was just a piece of art."

Inuyasha replied, "It seems like it meant more to you, than just being a pretty picture."

Kagome responded, "You could say that. I used to just draw for fun. However, it eventually became a way for me to express artistic representations of things. I primarily tried to give my artwork positive vibes. I had painted a look of happy, bright day, but the painting got ruined."

Inuyasha replied, "I'm sorry. That was me and Miroku's fault."

Kagome looked at him and asked, "When you think of a bright, wonderful atmosphere, what do you think of?"

Inuyasha thought about it and answered, "I think of you."

Kagome blushed and asked, "What do you mean?"

Inuyasha said, "At the risk of sounding corny, when I look at you, I see the beauty of sunshine. You're gorgeous on the inside, with your open-minded, optimistic, and loving outlook on the world. When I see you, I can't stop thinking about the brightest and most cheerful of things."

Kagome felt moved by Inuyasha's kind words. She asked, "You really mean that?" Inuyasha nodded. Kagome asked, "How come you didn't tell me that before?"

Inuyasha said, "It seemed too sentimental."

Kagome lightly smiled and asked, "Too sentimental? That could never happen. I really like what you said and I believe you give off positive vibes."

Inuyasha asked, "Really?"

Kagome answered, "Things get more crazy when you're around, but they also get more comforting, pleasant, and fun." She started holding hands with him, while saying, "Perhaps we can spread feelings of love to each other and positive vibes to our friends and others."

Inuyasha smiled and replied, "I couldn't think of anything better."

Kagome blushed, while asking, "May I give you a kiss?"

Inuyasha answered, "Once again, "I couldn't think of anything better." She kissed him.

Kagome looked at him, while saying, "My artwork was meant to be a representation of love, but being with you, is the most genuine and precious painting of love." She hugged her boyfriend, while enjoy the artistic beauty of life.


End file.
